Tibet Media Urged To Expose Dalai Lama's 'Plots' (Xizang Ribao) Lhasa Xizang Ribao (Internet Version-WWW) in Chinese 13 Nov 00 P 1 Chinese government official news media [Commentator's article: "Be a Sober Marxist Journalist"] [FBIS Translated Text] On the eve of the first Journalists Day in the PRC, the Tibet Autonomous Region [AR] held a forum to mark it. Tibet AR leaders attended the forum, to celebrate the day with the central journalists stationed in Tibet and with Tibetan journalists. At the forum, Tibet AR Party Committee leaders Guo Jinlong, Raidi, and Legqog gave key speeches. The speeches by the three leaders were concise but comprehensive, took the strategic high ground, added the finishing touches, and were sincere and earnest. They fully affirmed the great contributions made by journalists to the great change in Tibet. They laid out clear and specific requirements in areas such as better grasping the correct orientation, improving the guidance quality, building stronger ranks, converting ideological style, and intensifying press reform. And they pointed the way for journalists in the Tibet AR to better perform their sacred historic mission on new terms, to illustriously perform the glorious mission entrusted to them by the party and the people. Journalism is a key integral part of our party and state's great cause, with journalism affecting the future and destiny of the party and state. General Secretary Jiang has noted that "party journalism has shared weal and woe with the party, being a part of party life." Party Secretary Guo Jinlong also particularly stressed in his speech: "Journalism is very important. The great social change in Tibet's advance has been accompanied by the sound of the footsteps, calls, appeals, and propaganda of the masses of journalists, whose journalism has made a key contribution." Since the peaceful liberation of Tibet, journalism has been bathed in the party's bounteous spring breezes, having grown from nonexistent and small into existent and large. It has now developed into a very vigorous cause covering the whole snow-covered high plains. For decades, our journalists have been publicizing party principles and policies, glorifying the rich achievements made by the party and the people, and eulogizing the advanced models that have poured forth from all walks of life, to have reflected the voices and aspirations of the broad masses. Our journalists have gone from organs to rural areas, from rural to pastoral areas, and from the heartland to the remote border areas. They have braved the rain, snow, wind, and frost of all seasons, to have left their bustling footprints and silhouettes on the over 1.2 million sq km of the vast Tibet Plateau. Many comrades have given their lives to party journalism in this land. Every step in Tibet's advance is engraved with the accomplishments of journalists. Journalism is a sacred cause, with the position of journalist being a glorious one. This cause and this position require a high sense of political awareness, awareness of the overall order, and strong sense of responsibility. They require a sober Marxist political mind. In the rest of China, journalists perform their own mission, while facing sharp competition in their line on socialist market economy terms. But things are different here in Tibet, where Tibetan journalists first face the challenge of and struggle against the Dalai clique in media airspace supported by hostile Western forces. In other words, our Tibetan journalists are faced with the living reality of class struggle on an international scale. Since we are fighting the Dalai clique, it is a life-and-death class struggle of infiltration versus anti-infiltration and subversion versus anti-subversion. The main infiltration means used by the Dalai clique is exploitation of media tools, and exploitation of certain Western media for propaganda and attacks against us. The main battlefield in our fight with the Dalai clique is the spiritual arena, which is the correct verdict reached by the Tibet AR Party Committee on the struggle against separatism. The state of this struggle means that Tibetan journalists perform first the special and sacred mission of defending national sovereignty, exposing the Dalai's vicious plots, and opposing ethnic separatism. They have to stress politics and the overall order. In Tibet, this is the greatest political and overall order. The struggle for the media high ground with the Dalai clique is a major matter of right versus wrong. Whether one can soberly judge the situation, struggling in a directed, clear-cut, and righteous way, and holding the initiative, is the most direct test for every journalist. This means that our ranks building on the journalism front has to give first place to ideological and political construction. We definitely need to fully understand the great far-reaching significance of General Secretary Jiang's instructions to "absolutely not let Tibet be separated from the motherland, and absolutely not let Tibet long remain in a backward state." And we need to recognize the consequent key responsibility of journalists. As to the fight against separatism and the class nature of the Dalai clique, we all need to keep a firm political position, with absolutely no ambiguity. In Tibet, the struggle of separatism versus anti-separatism is so protracted, sharp, and complex because the Dalai's class nature cannot change. They are always changing their offensive means as the situation changes. So we need to stay on high guard, insisting on using the Marxist view of class analysis, to raise the political sensitivity and acuity of our masses of journalists. We need to stay particularly on guard against the denial by the Dalai and his separatist clique of the class nature of the ethnic problem, against his plot in the guise of religion to separate, infiltrate, and polarize. We need to be sober Marxist journalists. The building of stronger ideological and political ranks is aimed at always keeping our news propaganda coverage firmly in the correct political orientation. On new terms, news propaganda coverage has much substance and a very heavy mission. But in Tibet, to adhere to the correct political orientation, it is necessary to adhere to the following points: 1. We need to keep stability to promote development. 2. We need to criticize the Dalai in opposition to separatism. 3. We need to play up ethnic unity in opposition to ethnic estrangement. 4. We need to establish advanced models to inspire public confidence. These are the specific requirements and media guidance that Tibet AR journalists have to grasp to adhere to the correct political orientation. "They are the welfare of the party and the people. But incorrect media guidance is the bane of the party and the people." This is an incisive and accurate summary of historic experience and social reality, a solemn warning and aspiration for the masses of journalists. In Tibet, if our news propaganda ignores the above basic requirements and missions, and gets off of the correct track, that would do enormous and hardly retrievable damage to the party and the people. All of we comrades need to remember this firmly. Every sober Marxist journalist needs to adhere to the correct political orientation, while improving his professional skills, to improve his media guidance quality. Journalism in the Tibet AR is now generally quite weak. Certain of our layouts and programs remain subject to much vacuity and inadequacy. Since our firsthand material and sources remain very incomplete, we do not have much room for maneuver. We particularly lack material and examples of the frontline masses that are rich in vitality. Our propaganda on many crucial events and matters is singular in means, lacking vivid forms and means. The existence of such problems undoubtedly undermines our propaganda efficiency, affecting our capability to guide the cadre masses. The existence of such problems largely shows that our ideological style and work style do not meet the needs of the times, and do not meet the requirements of the Tibet AR Party Committee and the broad masses for news propaganda. To solve such problems, we have to do as General Secretary Jiang requires, or "study, study, and study again, in depth, in more depth, and in further depth." We need to endeavor to cultivate a professional style, one of seeking truth from facts, of arduous struggle, of honest administration, of rigorous meticulousness, and of bold innovation. To meet such requirements, besides ideological indoctrination, intensified reform is very important. Through reform of our innovation forces, we need to establish effective means of inspiration, exploration, cultivation, and talent use. Through innovative thinking, we need to develop new coverage arenas, exploring new coverage forms, and adopting new coverage means, to create more outstanding works that shine with the glory of the times and are rich in new significance. In the new century, the great call to advance is sounding, and the tide of the grand development of western China is surging. Living in such great times, and being able to write of the surging tides of two overlapping centuries, to record the grand progress of the Tibet plateau toward modernization, is to the unlimited glory and pride of our generation of journalists. Let us firmly remember our sacred mission, boldly shouldering our historic task, to unite more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core. With the correct leadership of the Tibet AR Party Committee, let us show more pride, responding to the call, striving for progress, and singing loudly the keynote of the times, to absolutely live up to the expectations and deep affection of the party and the people for us. [Description of Source: Lhasa Xizang Ribao (Internet Version-WWW) in Chinese -- Internet version of daily newspaper of the Tibet Autonomous Region CPC Committee.]